No sword canes ?

L

lonestag

Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
162
There doesn't seem to be any l interest in in sword canes here or in the knife world at all that I can see. Curious as to why? I get that there's legal concern's or practical use issues, but I think an interesting part of the collectors world is being ignored. I had a disabled friend years ago who had a beautiful and costly example that rarely left his side. It was sturdy and fearsome. It supported him in more than one way. So I wonder if there is a place for quality sword canes in our world today? I plan to buy the couple of examples Cold Steel offers. Thanks in advance for your opinion and suggestions
 
lonestag said:
There doesn't seem to be any l interest in in sword canes here or in the knife world at all that I can see. Curious as to why? I get that there's legal concern's or practical use issues, but I think an interesting part of the collectors world is being ignored. I had a disabled friend years ago who had a beautiful and costly example that rarely left his side. It was sturdy and fearsome. It supported him in more than one way. So I wonder if there is a place for quality sword canes in our world today? I plan to buy the couple of examples Cold Steel offers. Thanks in advance for your opinion and suggestions
Click to expand...

That's a good question. A few of my sword-maker buddies (and I) have each spoken seriously about making one at some point but it never seems to materialize. Maybe we just need to get a little more arthritic. 😆
 
A.L. said:
Because most people don't really feel that swords are a self defence thing these days?
Click to expand...
Good point , though I have seen canes holding a dagger length blade and even automatic blades or spikes deployed out the end,also swagger sticks concealing s blade. Not an every day fashion item for today's bro, dude, gentleman nowadays. Still a fascinating item .
 
lonestag said:
True, I didn't think about that. I wonder if Cold Steel's are as they're supposed to be built for actual use
Click to expand...

Depends how tall you are.
They are too short for me.

I have a Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane, and it is too short for me by quite a bit.
I am 6'2" tall.
If you are shorter, it might be the right length for you.
Or, it is easy enough to cut the tube shorter if need be.
 
I could have an interest in a sword cane, but I don't see any out there from outfits like Cold Steel. . . . .OK then. I
will look into Cold Steel. Is the CS cane stout enough for someone who walks with a liomp? is it good quality or cheesy?

In UK, they are a forbidden weapon along with any knife over 3".

Tangent, but related: Back in the 1980s there used to be a pistol cane advertised. Back then, it could be sold because it was black powder (muzzle loading) and not regulated. I didn't need a cane than, but it looked to be heavy.
 
Last edited:
I seriously thought about getting one in 2021, when I had neuropathy in my feet so bad I could barely walk. I was using a cane. Great for novelty. For self defense? If the person is actually disabled?

I don’t know about that, since I could barely stand up by myself, I highly doubt I would’ve been able to defend myself against a healthy person, sword cane or not. Fortunately, that is in the past, I absolutely hated feeling defenseless everywhere I went.
 
I think it is just a very small niche. Many knife guys have no particular interest in swords. They want either something they can potentially carry and use every day or something they can use in the woods or at least imagine they will. A sword cane fits neither of those bills, the only people that actually use canes today are people who need them, and those are typically light weight aluminum models amongst which a sword cane sticks out like a sore thumb. Sword guys often have no particular interest because they are interested in a Viking / Medieval / Renaissance / Ethnographic sword not a gimmicky civilian item. There are people that collect them but the market and hence the availability is small.
 
There is little to no market for them. Very niche. Cold Steel has the low end, and Burger has the high end.

But they're not legal in a lot of places and not really practical anywhere.
 
lonestag said:
True, I didn't think about that. I wonder if Cold Steel's are as they're supposed to be built for actual use
Click to expand...
stabman said:
Depends how tall you are.
They are too short for me.

I have a Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane, and it is too short for me by quite a bit.
I am 6'2" tall.
If you are shorter, it might be the right length for you.
Or, it is easy enough to cut the tube shorter if need be.
Click to expand...
If you're Lynn Thompson's doppelganger, they'll fit perfectly
 
They would likely fall under the concealed weapons category in a lot of jurisdictions. While popular in fiction (Sherlock Holmes' partner Watson carries one), a singlestick probably would be just as effective.
 
Combination tools don't work as well as a tool that is specifically designed for one task. If the cane is a mobility aid, then adding the weight of a sword blade is going to be irritating over the course of a day. The fit is going to have to be quality, or it will rattle. And the joint with the locking mechanism is a potential failure point that will be under stress with every step. If I needed a cane to make sure I stay upright, I wouldn't choose a sword cane even if there weren't significant legal penalties.

The blades in them are usually more like elongated poignards than an edged weapon, Cold Steel was quite proud of putting an actual rapier style blade in one of theirs. They are quite deadly weapons, but the irony is that a rapier or smallsword blade relies on footwork to keep the point engaged with the target at an effective distance. So you take away your mobility aid to deploy a weapon that is more mobility dependent than just using the cane as an impact tool. If the sword cane is just man jewelry, then that's not an issue. Any sharp steel is going to make an attacker think twice, but the money involved in getting a reliable sword cane could go to a Blackthorne cane on the low end, or a one of those super classy titanium war hammer canes on the high end.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
Combination tools don't work as well as a tool that is specifically designed for one task. If the cane is a mobility aid, then adding the weight of a sword blade is going to be irritating over the course of a day. The fit is going to have to be quality, or it will rattle. And the joint with the locking mechanism is a potential failure point that will be under stress with every step. If I needed a cane to make sure I stay upright, I wouldn't choose a sword cane even if there weren't significant legal penalties.

The blades in them are usually more like elongated poignards than an edged weapon, Cold Steel was quite proud of putting an actual rapier style blade in one of theirs. They are quite deadly weapons, but the irony is that a rapier or smallsword blade relies on footwork to keep the point engaged with the target at an effective distance. So you take away your mobility aid to deploy a weapon that is more mobility dependent than just using the cane as an impact tool. If the sword cane is just man jewelry, then that's not an issue. Any sharp steel is going to make an attacker think twice, but the money involved in getting a reliable sword cane could go to a Blackthorne cane on the low end, or a one of those super classy titanium war hammer canes on the high end.
Click to expand...
Plus a rapier blade is double or more the length of a lot of common sword canes. A Burger sword cane blade is only 18".
 
If you aren't walking with an immediately obvious physically issue, a cane stands out pretty clearly as someone carrying a weapon. I conceal carry a firearm for protection, walking around with an obvious stick wouldn't interest me in the slightest. Not to mention, men carrying canes as a stylistic choice pretty much went away with shoe spats and top hats. 🤷
 
I love them and expect to make one sooner than later. Damascus with nice woods could compliment my top hat. I saw a couple very nice ones at a show in KC around 2018.
I picked up a CS HD last year. It is plausible as a cane, but slightly crudely shaped. The gaskets for the handle got very stiff after letting it sit for a couple months. I could barely draw it which needs addressing.
 
Remington made a .410 caliber cane gun at one time, which proved to be quite popular. There's a lot of literature about canes used for self defense, using the crook, etc. At one time any well-dressed gentleman wouldn't venture out without his cane, Winston Churchill, for example.
 
Quiet said:
If you aren't walking with an immediately obvious physically issue, a cane stands out pretty clearly as someone carrying a weapon. I conceal carry a firearm for protection, walking around with an obvious stick wouldn't interest me in the slightest. Not to mention, men carrying canes as a stylistic choice pretty much went away with shoe spats and top hats. 🤷
Click to expand...
Do you think people would accept the sword stick if you were also wearing a top hat, shoe spats, and coattails? 🤔
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top